PA: East al-Quds, capital of Palestine

Palestinian Authority (PA) Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Feyadh has pledged that East al-Quds (Jerusalem) would be the capital of the future Palestinian state.

East al-Quds “will be the capital of our independent state,” he said after inaugurating a renovated school in Dahiyat al-Barid.

He made the remarks after Israel barred him from opening another project, which was a reconstructed road in al-Quds, for political reasons.

Last week, Feyadh announced plans to inaugurate two renovation projects in the Israeli occupied and annexed East al-Quds, both of which are located on the West Bank side of Israel’s separation barrier running through the city.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on Monday ordered officials “not to let the Palestinian Authority conduct events and ceremonies” in al-Quds.

“We have already rehabilitated 14 schools in Jerusalem in less than four months as well as several roads, and we will continue to work towards our goal of establishing an independent state,” Feyadh was quoted as saying by AFP.

“Today we declare our victory and the victory of our projects against the occupation and the terrorism of the settlers,” he added.

Israel seized East al-Quds during the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it — despite opposition from the international community — in line with plans to grab the entire al-Quds as what it refers to as its “eternal, indivisible capital.”

In 2002, the Israeli regime started a massive separation wall through the West Bank in a bid to keep Palestinians out.

The wall cuts through parts of al-Quds’ eastern sector that despite being under Israeli control, receives little funding. The PA has stepped in on several occasions to fund the renovation of schools or furnishing of roads.